Story's comparison was wrongheaded

Your May 13 article on
dams and Northwest salmon quoted a Boise teacher to the effect that
removing dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers would only affect
"15,000 jobs connected to the BPA, the Army Corps, the navigation
industry, three lower Snake ports, eight aluminum companies, and
500 farms served by the Port of Lewiston." That comparison of the
8.7 million people in Washington, Idaho and Oregon "getting screwed
by the 15,000" is astonishing, especially coming from a teacher who
could be expected to know better.

As a Washington
state resident I am going to be one of the millions directly
affected by higher food costs from non-barged grain, higher
aluminum costs from non-produced aluminum, and higher produce costs
from non-farmed crops. Plus the costs of providing welfare for
those 15,000 who lose their jobs and can't find other jobs. The
worst of it is that overharvesting of fish has decimated fish runs
worldwide, and not just in dammed rivers. Yet that major issue of
overharvesting, plus the proliferation of natural predators such as
raptors and sea lions, rated no mention in your
article.